But you might be surprised that Oregon State coach Mike Riley wore No. 23 as a football player before Michael Jordan did it as a basketball star. This is true. Also, that Riley had a great head of hair while a player at Alabama.

Mike Riley was a member of the 1973 co-national championship Alabama team.Special thanks to LostLetterman.com for providing the photograph of Riley you see here, but strangely absent is a photo of Chip Kelly. What gives? I ran into one of Kelly's childhood friends at Autzen Stadium early in the season. Maybe they'd be kind enough to send a photo along so Ducks fans don't become irate thinking that I'm snubbing their coach here. Or will Beavers fans be angry because their coach is pictured.

It's true that Beavers-Ducks fans will call The Oregonian sports department complaining that the photographs run of their opponent are larger/smaller/positioned better. It's also true that the radio station gets calls from Oregon-OSU fans who are upset when I'm interviewing players from one side or the other.

Lots of talk this week about the respective head coaches and how the Civil War will go down. But won't it be more true that this game will be decided on the defensive side of the ball? Both offenses have moved it well this season. Oregon is explosive. And since the second half of the USC game, Oregon State has absolutely destroyed opposing defenses.

Maybe we should be searching for the photographs of Ducks defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti and Beavers defensive coordinator Mark Banker? Just a thought for the blog.